ROSALIND HOBBS

Rosalind Hobbs

The University of Tulsa

Ancient Political Thought

October 4, 2020

 

Characters of Thucydides Within Socrates’ Allegory of The Cave

 

              The philosophy discussed in Plato’s The Republic, while very applicable to all eras of antiquity as well as contemporary history, complements the politics of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Athenian historian, Thucydides. A memorable portion of The Republic of Plato introduces Socrates’ allegory of the cave. Imagine the inhabitants of the cave, Thucydides; figures, Athenian generals Alcibiades and Nicias, fit the character of Socrates’ metaphorical prisoners.

 

              Socrates’ allegory creates imagery of prisoners within a cave to illustrate the difficult journey from ignorance to truth. The story begins with a man chained to the bottom of a cave unable to see anything other than shadows on a wall ahead. In this world, the man is exposed to and comprehends only the shadows of reality and truth. These shadows are mere images of physical objects. The man chained in the cave lives a life premade for him with the inability to control his perceptions. Additionally, if there were other men chained next to him, together they would fill their time with trivial honors such as competing to correctly name which shadow will appear next. For to them, this is the peak of existence.

 

              If the man were to be unchained, he would turn around to see the puppets dancing in front of flames creating these shadows. It would be hard for him to adjust to this new reality, but he would begin to recognize that the puppets and flames are more real than the shadows. The man would identify the puppets as physical objects, and the flames as the entity giving existence to said objects. While the chains may provide blissful ignorance, a man who values knowledge will never be content with being chained again, for now he knows a greater existence than as a prisoner. 

 

              If he ventures outside of the cave, or the physical realm, the man will find himself entering into the intelligible realm. Like turning around to find the puppets and flames, the intelligible world will be so bright that it overstimulates the man’s senses. If the man is weak, he will turn around, return to the cave, and find ignorant comfort from within. To do this, the man would commit philosophical suicide. If the man is strong, he will give himself time to adjust to the intelligible world. He will, of course, recognize the shadows first. For they are what he knows best. He will then see the reflections in water. Then he will observe the actual objects, those creating the shadows and reflections. And finally, he will cast his eyes upon the sun itself. Like the flames, ever so bright, the man will recognize the sun as the reason why he can see these objects and will deduce that the sun is the source of all existence. 

 

              He will recognize the similarities of these observations to the cave, but in all of its grandeur, the world above is undeniably more real, and he will conclude that the cave is merely a controlled simulation of this intelligible realm. The cave is the state of ignorance and the upper world is the state of truth. While there can be comfort found within the cave, a courageous man will endure the difficult journey of leaving it. However, his enlightenment does not reach fulfillment upon experiencing the upper world, for he must have the courage and wisdom to venture back into the cave and give aid to the remaining prisoners. While they may be reluctant, it is the philosopher’s duty to light the path of escape. 

 

              The most obvious cave prisoner from Thucydides, is the Athenian politician and general, Alcibiades. In his speech in the Debate at Athens concerning the Sicilian Expedition, Alcibiades forcefully encourages the Athenians that there is no reason to hold back on preemptive action which is necessary to increase Athenian home power. Alcibiades’ motivation is less for the state of Athens and more for his personal desires. His hedonistic motivation stems from his need to live up to his predecessors and get a chance to experience valiant success. 

 

              While this endeavor would arguably be in an effort to reclaim pride and honor for the entire Athenian state, the nature of this desire is born from the beast within the man. As Socrates’ describes it, the man who allows the beast to take reign, will also find himself excessively valuing money to relieve himself of the pain of his desires. Alcibiades admits to doing just that as he speaks of his “splendid largesse” in his speech (Thucydides vi. 16). Like a tyrant, Alcibiades is enslaved by his desires and values money to escape them, concluding that Alcibiades is not a man walking freely amongst the intelligible realm.

 

              Alcibiades’ speech relies on an unsound foundation of pathetic rhetoric as he appeals to the desires of the Athenian people. While this is a successful approach in obtaining the favor of the Athenian people, it is the argument of an imprisoned man. Ignorance feeds off of pathos. Alcibiades speech is simply between one prisoner and another, the Athenian people.

 

              Furthermore, as interpreted in his speech, Alcibiades’ world view is very constrained and disproportionately self-absorbed. Alcibiades believes he has a “better claim than anyone else to have [the] command” of the Sicilian expedition (Thucydides vi. 16). He argues that his glories and honors won in Olympic Games grants him the right to this power. These honors prized by Alcibiades are considerably similar to those Socrates would say the imprisoned man would concern himself with. To a man who is familiar with the intelligible realm, these honors are trivial. Alcibiades lacks experience in receiving mature glories of the intelligible realm. 

 

              However, Alcibiades does not have an intrinsically doomed character. With his passion and courage, he could have excelled philosophically if he had been released from his metaphorical shackles. The intelligible world would have humbled the Athenian general and given him enough reason to behave with more wisdom. Additionally, this isn’t to say Alcibiades is a failed politician, for the most hedonistic man is full of the type of passion that attracts the masses.

 

              Alcibiades’ counterpart in the Debate at Athens, Nicias, also an Athenian politician and general, should not be overestimated as a man in the intelligible realm despite his humble hesitation that can be falsely interpreted as wisdom. Nicias’ attempt to take a logos approach in his speech was simply a disguise for his internalized fear of the unknown. Nicias, like Alcibiades, is a man that can be placed in Socrates’ cave. However, unlike Alcibiades, Nicias is not chained down, simply too cowardice to leave the cave. 

 

              While Nicias’ caution did aid in bringing the Peloponnesian War to a temporary end, he feigned assertiveness in the Sicilian Expedition and eventually resorted back to his cautious nature. This indecision and prudency ultimately got himself and his fellow Athenian, Demosthenes, executed by Spartans and contributed to the Athenians loss in the war. Like the shadows on the wall, Nicias only reacts to what is presented in front of him rather than making the deliberate effort to see the truth behind his perceptions. Nicias reacts rather than creates. 

 

              More specifically, in Nicias’ first speech, he discourages the Athenians to begin a conquest on Sicily, describing it as foolish haste. By his second speech, after Alcibiades gives his, Nicias adapts his message to say that if a conquest shall happen, at least bring forth everything the Athenians have. Eventually, he even reluctantly accepts a role as one of the leaders of the Sicilian Expedition. Nicias is fueled by a survivalist mentality, scared to ascend the steps into the intelligible realm. 

 

              However, if Nicias were to have the courage to leave the cave, like Alcibiades, he could have made a more successful leader and produced a more convincing message. This is true because, as Thucydides presents it, Nicias seems to genuinely have Athens best interest at heart. This is quite unlike Alcibiades who cannot expand his mind beyond the interests of himself. It could be concluded then, according to this analysis, that, despite Alcibiades’ narcissism, Nicias is actually in a far worse position than his interlocutor because his chances of leaving the cave is far slimmer than Alcibiades’. Alcibiades simply needs experience to humble him, while Nicias requires something much harder to obtain, courage.

 

              While the allegory of the cave can be misinterpreted as categorizing tiers of worth amongst men, it is far more objective. The story of the cave materializes the various states in which a man can be in within his journey to enlightenment. However, Socrates argues that the most ideal leader may just be the philosopher. But an ideal leader is hardly ever a practical leader nor is it often to the liking of the people. Nevertheless, the journey into the intelligible world is not an easy feat, even upon arrival, but can grant the philosopher freedom of the mind. In the case of the Athenian Generals, Alcibiades and Nicias are among the prisoners in Socrates’ cave, and not necessarily reluctantly, at least in the case of Nicias. 

 

Works Cited

 

Plato, Allan Bloom, and Adam Kirsch. The Republic of Plato. Basic Books, 2016. 

Thucydides, and Paul Woodruff. On Justice, Power, and Human Nature: Selections from The History of the Peloponnesian War. Hackett, 1993.